


Need You Forever

by SophBee



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Separation Anxiety, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-25 06:53:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20719937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophBee/pseuds/SophBee
Summary: "If Tony hadn’t been prepared for everyone around him to start disappearing, then he was even less prepared when they started coming back."A short fic I wrote after seeing Infinity War and reading other Peter & Tony fics that made my heart melt. You've gotta pretend Endgame didn't happen for this one, but I imagine most people would be okay with that.





	Need You Forever

If Tony hadn’t been prepared for everyone around him to start disappearing, then he was even less prepared when they started coming back. He didn’t notice, at first, until the excited chatter and laughter as the Guardians reunited reached his ears and he looked up. Each time another figure faded back into existence, the others would crowd around and welcome their friend back, tugging each other into hugs and grasping arms as if to reassure that this was real, they were back. 

Tony kept his distance. There was, after all, only one face he was looking for, only one voice that echoed in his head.

“Mr Stark?”

Tony had never moved so fast as he turned to place the voice. The small, confused, hopeful voice that belonged to the kid. _His_ kid.

“Peter-”

No sooner had he breathed the name, Tony found himself with an armful of shaking teenager, clinging desperately to any part of Tony that he could get purchase on. Tony’s heart started to knit itself back together as Peter rambled into his chest, “Mr Stark! You’re okay, you’re alive, I’m alive… I can’t believe we’re alive…”.

“Yeah, kid, we’re alive. You’re alive. You had me worried for quite some time there, but you pulled through. Everything's gonna be okay now, you hear me?”

Tony moved his arms to Peter’s shoulders to separate them a little and to get a look at the kid’s face. However, as soon as he began to push him away, Peter’s relief crumbled quickly into fear. “NO! Don’t leave me, please, don’t go, I can’t… I need…” The pleas faded into sobs, and Tony’s heart split right back up into a thousand pieces as he tugged Peter as close as humanly possible.

“Hey, I’m not going anywhere, it’s okay. You’re not going anywhere either, alright? I’m not letting you out of my sight for a very long time.”

Later, Tony would say that he was just tired and that he shed sympathy tears as Peter’s cries dampened his neck. It was more than that. As he sank to the ground, still with Peter in his arms, Tony wept. He wept for his loss, and out of relief that he had the kid back. He wept that Peter had had to experience this, had to experience death and then come back from it and try to live a normal life. He knew that everything had changed now. Peter had been through the unthinkable, and nobody would ever understand fully what he had felt. The kid was going to need Tony now more than ever, and Tony was going to be there for him. If the world was coming down around him, he would be there for Peter.

The Guardians, now reunited in full, had very suddenly quietened down when they saw Tony and Peter wrapped around each other on the ground. Peter had never looked as small as he did now, curled up in Tony’s lap and with his face pressed into the elder’s neck, arms clasped around his middle. Tony seemed determined to keep him there, with one hand anchored on Peter’s side and the other in the kid’s unruly hair, gently running his fingers through the strands as he ever-so-slightly rocked the shaking boy and murmured reassurances to him.

Drax broke the silence. “Is the young spider hurt? He seems very distressed.”

“I think it’s emotional distress, Drax,” Quill sighed, sympathy for the kid shining in his eyes. “He’s been through a lot.”

“Can we help him? Should we talk to him?” Mantis looked ready to cry at the mere thought of her new friend hurting, but Quill shook his head.

“We can’t do anything right now. He needs some time to process what happened and to recover. He’ll be fine, he’s got his dad.”

Tony allowed himself a small smile into Peter’s hair as Quill’s words drifted over to where they sat. “Did you hear that, Pete? You’ve got me. You’ve got me now and for as long as you need me.”

“Forever, then. I need you forever.” Peter sniffed as he lifted his head and one pair of bloodshot eyes met another. Tony huffed out a laugh.

“Good, because that’s how long I need you too.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

The journey back to earth was an interesting one. Nobody could sleep, because closing their eyes brought back images of what none of them wanted to relive right now, not when it was all so fresh and they were still hurtling through space. So, everyone did their best to pretend everything was okay. The Guardians quickly fell into their roles on the ship and something about the familiarity allowed them all to breathe a little easier, to crack a smile now and then, to release a little bit of the weight from their shoulders.

Peter, who had always been perfectly happy on Earth, thank you very much, found it a little trickier to relax as the ship - a _spaceship_ \- drifted on towards Earth. Wherever Tony went, Peter went, and the others continued to turn a blind eye as Peter took every opportunity to tuck himself into Tony’s side when they sat down, or to grasp at Tony’s clothes as they walked around. Eventually, when Tony had been standing talking to Quill for some time, he noticed Peter start to fumble. The kid was fighting to keep his eyes open and his body upright, yet his grip on the sleeve of Tony’s jumper didn’t loosen in the slightest.

“I think Peter and I might need a bit of a rest, you got any beds around here?” Tony’s words were directed at Quill, who smiled as Tony wrapped an arm around Peter and helped support his barely-conscious body.

A minute later, Tony had Peter tucked into a bed and was sitting on the floor next to him so that Peter could keep a hold on his arm. It helped until Peter began to drift off to sleep and suddenly jolted awake again when his hand slipped from Tony. “Mr Stark-”

“Tony.”

“Uh, yeah, Tony, could you- Ah, well…”

“What is it, Peter? What do you need?”

Peter squeezed his eyes shut as he spoke. “You. I need to know that you're- you’re still here, and that this is real, and I’m not still de…” He choked on the word, swallowed, and tried again. “Dead.”

“Pete, I’m as close to this bed as I can physically get, and I’m not going anywhere. Don’t worry, you can sleep. I’ll be right here.”

“Yeah, but…” He trailed off, looking anywhere but at Tony.

Tony hummed encouragingly. “You want me to do something else?”

“It’s silly. I’m not a little kid anymore, so it’s probably weird for you, and you really don’t have to, but I just think it would make me feel better if you- you know…”

It finally clicked what Peter wanted, and Tony almost teared up again at how pure this kid was, how young and vulnerable he was. “Well, this bed looks big enough for two people if you ask me, and it’s probably a lot more comfortable than sitting on the floor, so maybe I should join you?”

“Please,” Peter whispered, already shifting closer to the wall to make space for Tony. As soon as the covers settled over the two of them, Peter had his head pressed to Tony’s shoulder and his fingers wrapped in the soft t-shirt covering Tony’s side. Tony wrapped both arms around the boy and found himself able to close his eyes as long as everything he could feel and hear and smell was Peter. As the kid murmured in his sleep, Tony vowed for the second time that day that he would do everything in his power to protect the child in his arms. This was a promise that he knew he could keep.


End file.
